Attack On Titan: Wings Of Freedom

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

I didn't even see Sonny or Bean for a week after overhearing everything. Although it hovered in the back of my mind like an irritating fly I busied myself with my machine to get away from it. Despite the fact I had only been working on building the machine for about a week I was almost ready to test it.

Today I wanted to finish the harness and by that I meant make the whole thing. I had decided to extend it a little further this time. It now had shoulder straps, straps down the back and chest, more on the legs to offer more control, and most importantly was the two part metal back brace (already made by Rex and Hannah).

I started with fabric testing, starting with how flexible it was and then how strong. It surprised me: some of the fabrics matched up and even beat the original in terms of strength. After that and a half dozen other tests I was left with three: one that was black and kind of silky, a light brown one, and a dark brown one. The dark brown was the strongest of the three but the least flexible, while the only difference between the other two was the way they were made.

"Rex, I need your help." I said as I sat down at the table in the forge with him.

"What on?" He replied. He and I had become pretty good friends and had a mutual respect for each others skills.

"These. They all match the criteria I've set for the harness fabric but I have one last test that needs a second opinion." I said as I tossed the fabric samples on the table.

"Tested how?" He asked.

"I need to find out how much it takes to get a burn." I said.

"A burn?" He questioned skeptically.

I pulled up my pants and set my leg on the table, showing him the marks on my legs from when I had burned them. "A rug burn from last time." I said before putting it back down.

"Ooh, ouch." He flinched. "Fair enough, what do I need to do?"

"I need you to rub the fabric on my arm as fast as you can and push down as hard as you can." I said as I set my right arm on the table.

"There's no better way?" He asked.

"My test my body policy. I won't test on anyone else." I told him. He picked up the light brown fabric and sighed. He started rubbing and I pulled away in seven seconds.

"No?" He asked. I shook my head.

"Next." I said. He took the black one and did the same. It felt pretty comfortable, but as it was borderline failing my other tests I was nervous to use it.

Rex stopped and looked at me. "Any good?" He asked.

"Lets try the next one." I said. He picked it up and did the same with the last one. I could feel it burning a little, but it wasn't enough to cause burns. "I like this last one, but..."

"Why don't you create some kind of uniform to go under the straps so they don't burn you?" He suggested.

"Oh, I hadn't thought of that..." I quickly started realizing the possibilities and grabbed one of the four paper sized chalkboards. I started sketching an outfit and lost myself in it.

I returned about an hour and a half later to see I had several sketches detailing every part of the outfit and harness. "There, time to sew." I said softly as I smiled at it.

"Can I help?" Rex asked. I nodded and showed him my sketches. "Wow, detailed. I can make the clothes since the harness is more important and I'm sure you want to handle that yourself." He offered.

"Could you? That would be great." I said.

"Sure, I'll go buy fabric." He said.

"Oh, let me tell you what to buy. I want the pants and shirt to be white, the jacket to be brown, and the cloak to be dark green." I said.